Help allay my paranoia...

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sooter76

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So a while back I purchased my first blackpowder muzzleloader, a Lyman percussion GPR. I took it out a few times and shot it and afterwards cleaned it the way I was supposed to. A month or so goes by and I run a pre-soaked patch down and it comes back out looking filthy. I clean it again and a short while later I deploy. A couple of days ago I start thinking about it and get a bug up my ass and I have my wife back home check it. She runs a patch down the barrel and again it comes out dirty. She cleans it for me and puts it back up...

Now my concern is that the patches keep coming out dirty. Now I know with my AR-15 and my AK if I leave it lubed (after cleaning) and don't shoot it for an extended period of time, I can run a clean patch down the barrel and it'll come out looking filthy. I'm hoping this is whats happening with my GPR as I'm paranoid over the corrosive blackpowder.

Can those with more extensive experience confirm or deny my paranoia?
 
No need to worry.

I clean my revolvers by running alternately oiled and clean patches until the bore looks reasonably clean and patches come out reasonably clean.

A few weeks later if I push down a patch it'll be filthy, but there's no corrosion forming at all. Blackpowder residue won't corrode a barrel without moisture and when you oil it after cleaning, there's no way for whatever remains of powder residue to absorb moisture.
 
I don't bother to clean any more. I oil everything up real good and have had no rust or corrosion for over two years now. The oil keeps the residue soft and the oil seals out moisture. I don't even bother to wipe off any excess or wipe them down. The one time that I did not oil up the powder residue set up hard and I had a hard time reloading the first set of balls in the Reed & Watson rifle and the LeMat pistol. Now I leave them oiled until the next shooting session come spring time. The caps now days do not have fulminate of mercury so that is not an issue like in the old days.
The COL.
 
I used to use Rem oil in my barrels and noticed especially with the muzzy that after setting a few months a dry patch down the bore would come out brown. Since I switched to M pro 7 oil I no longer get the brown patches after the firearm has set for a while.
 
no I wouldn't worry about it either. Just normal oxidation.
No matter how well you clean, there is always going to be some left in the pores of the metal.

I always clean mine after shooting.
As the rifles may sit a while before being used again.

My revolvers get thoroughly cleaned and relubed except the chambers.
Because I immediately reload the revolvers.

Also unless you thoroughly clean the gun before shooting, don't use a petroleum based lube in the barrel, flash channel nipple.

pet. oil and BP tend to make a nasty substance.
Use coconut canola or olive oil if you want or a good synthetic or an oil designed for BP guns.

Yes regular pet oil can be used I know, but why make a mess later if you don't need too.
In mine I use a dab of olive oil on the patch in the bore, just a small dab.
Been doing it 35+ years and it works for me
 
The only way to thoroughly clean black powder residue is with hot, soapy water. Nitro solvent won't cut it. This tends to be a messy job, but once you do it, you can dry the bore, coat it with RIG, and be reasonably sure it won't corrode.
 
I shot kegs of black powder in the sixties and seventies and always cleaned with hot water followed by drying and oiling. Never had "dirty" or "filthy" patches weeks, months, or now, years later. About once a year I run an oily patch down the bores of the stored MLs and they are fine.
I cannot for fathom treating a black powder fouled bore by oiling it alone. Seems to me that would just trap the fouling in the bore allowing it to do its dirty work.
But then, I'm just an old timer using old time methods that worked for me.
Perhaps stuff works differently or better now.
 
Bucket of steaming hot soapy water using your ram-rod and patch as a plunger so-to-speak drawing water up and pushing back down. Dry, oil, Good-to-go.
 
As others have stated, clean your BP weapons with hot soapy water and you will not have a problem with dirty patches. I use Dawn dish detergent. Use HOT water and the barrel will dry quickly when removed and wiped off. Oil the bore with Mobil 1 or whatever catches your fancy, wipe down the outside with CLP or whatever you like and you should be corrosion free.
 
I shot kegs of black powder in the sixties and seventies and always cleaned with hot water followed by drying and oiling. Never had "dirty" or "filthy" patches weeks, months, or now, years later. About once a year I run an oily patch down the bores of the stored MLs and they are fine.
I cannot for fathom treating a black powder fouled bore by oiling it alone. Seems to me that would just trap the fouling in the bore allowing it to do its dirty work.
But then, I'm just an old timer using old time methods that worked for me.
Perhaps stuff works differently or better now.
Click to expand...

Of course tearing down the gun and putting everything metal in hot soapy water would work and the gun would be immaculately clean. If you're uncomfortable with anything else but a "factory clean" gun, no reason to change your methods.

However, using oiled & dry patches is just a quick way of doing it which also works. The fouling which remains in the bore is saturated with oil and can't do a thing. Both methods work, really, as long as the gun is cleaned after shooting.
 
Dirty rags a few days after a thorough cleaning

It's the nature of black powder guns and happens to all of us.
 
Never had to tear them down except for revolvers. Drilled out nipple, rubber hose into a bucket of hot water, jag on rod to pump water in and out of the bore. Wipe down the outside.
Whatever works for you.
 
"I want to hear again how you got the wife to clean your guns!! "

I got deployed to the Middle East... I don't recommend it as worth it.
 
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